Ok in all seriousness, Maine Coon's are a breed that have a special coat. They are actually nonallergenic because of it. Its something in their saliva or something. Anyway, the fur is also supposed to be better at shedding water. Anybody know anything about cat fur? It might be worth a try.

Click to expand...

I've been tying with cat fur since my college days when it was a tough choice whether to spend 50¢ on fly tying supplies or on a couple gallons of gas.

Cat fur seems to absorb water more than other furs so it's best suited for tying nymphs. I've tried various waterproofing methods for cat fur dries. The best is the silicone liquid that you dunk a completed dry fly into and wait until it dries before fishing.

We've got a 6YO Maine Coon who measures nearly 4 feet stretched out and weighs a whopping 20 pounds. Although it's true Maine Coons love water, their fur doesn't seem to be any more water resistant than that of other breeds. While his coloring is called red, it's actually a sort of creamy orange-brown which I occasionally use for October caddis adults.

Naw, that's Elmo. You can say what you want about him behind his back, but if you're not nice when he's around, he'll kick your ass. I've still got the scar from the first time I tried to give him a pill.

I've still got the scar from the first time I tried to give him a pill.
K

Click to expand...

I bet. I worked in a vet hospital when I was in college. I had to give various animals pills at times and some cats were just plain mean. We had zippered cat bags to put them in where nothing but their head could stick out of (to save you from the claws). I remember fighting this cat for 10 minutes just trying to get it to swallow one pill - and I had the thing in a cat bag. It was vicious. The funny part is, this tiny little vet doctor lady comes along and see me and this cat duking it out. She stops, grabs the pill, grabs the cat by the head with fingers in mouth and stuffs down the pill in a split second and walks off without a word. Cat and I both just had this dumb blank look our our faces....

The funniest time there was when I was there alone and had to give this huge, but extremely dumb and clutsy one year old great dane eye drops. That would have been a fun one to get on tape :rofl:

Then there was the black lab who's appendix burst during surgery. Blood litterally everywhere (walls, ceiling, entire floor) And yet she was fine and went home the next day...

=
We've got a 6YO Maine Coon who measures nearly 4 feet stretched out and weighs a whopping 20 pounds. Although it's true Maine Coons love water, their fur doesn't seem to be any more water resistant than that of other breeds. While his coloring is called red, it's actually a sort of creamy orange-brown which I occasionally use for October caddis adults.

K

Click to expand...

My parents have two cats just like that. The bigger one loves to relax in that same position with another person rubbing his belly. He also likes to chase small dogs.

Man, quality thread guys... With so little new pics going up with all the rivers closed, I'm trying to find new places on the site to waste my time. Although, once I get home, I'm gonna have to give this a try.

One of my best friends and fly fishing buddy and professional fly tier (tied for Orvis for many years) had a deal with the local Vet. (Skins out cats when they are put to sleep) He has a mess of cat skins in various shades. Uses them for dubbing on wet flies. He likes the way they dub. He's the best fly tier I know and he uses cat fur. He also uses dog fur, raccoon, badger, and real skunk for his "skunk" pattern. Anyway that's another story. But, he told me that most cat fur does absorb water pretty quick. He likes that for wet flies and nymphs. I have never used cat fur and I'm just a hacker when it comes to fly tying but I know of one very talented professional who uses cat fur.

Waterproofing: seems like the same stuff you use on your outdoor clothes might work on fur. Anyone have thoughts on that?

Click to expand...

The silicone muslin you can buy in some fly shops is basically the same as the liquid stuff for dabbing on your shoes. Some of the carrier additives may be different.

I just get a can of silicone spray, CRC's Heavy Duty Silicone to be specific, and use it as the first-pass waterproofing. CRC's spray actually has a list of ingredients, and is basically pure silicone plus some thinners (isobutane and propane) and propellants (heptane) that I know will evaporate completely

This has worked really well for me ... on my beaver dubbed flies I never have to add extra floatant when on the river.

Use a fluffier cat. The fluffier the hair the better. If its to stiff it wont dub well unless you use a dubbing loop and even then probably wont give you the desired results. Take a few samples from different parts of kittys body. The under belly works good